VAST COAL FIELDS TAPPED

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1927, Page 11

VAST COAL FIELDS TAPPED

TO BE EXPLOITED AT ONCE DEPOSITS AT TANGARAKAU. IMPORTANT WORK PUT IN HAND Over three years ago a Prottiih miner, who had had considerable experience in prospecting for new coal fields, and had been successful in locating more than one profitable coal deposit in the Waikato, visited the Tangarakau district and commenced making a detailed inspection of the locality for outcrops of coal. He was rewarded by finding outcrops indicating the existence of a considerable coal field. At one place in the Tangarakau Gorge, across the river, up a ravine, he found a very promising deposit. The coal was of excellent quality, being particularly suited for steaming and domestic purposes. The miner promptly got to work, and erected a cable across the river to haul over the coal trucks. He installed a steam engine, and built a coal bin on the side of the road, and in his spare time got out about 90 tons of coal, which was taken over by the Public Works Department at Tangarakau Flat, a short distance away. It was used for the railway engines and driving the electrical generating plant. For both purposes it was found eminently euitable.

The miner was Mr. William Shanks, who meantime had been busy arranging for outside financial interests to assist him in his operations. Thia he successfully accomplished, and at the weekend the_ syndicate supporting him, consisting of several representative Taranaki men, visited the locality, and was much impressed .with the possibilities of the field and its accessibility to the railway. At present any coal got out must be taken in the summer months, when the road is dry, and motor transport possible, over the Moki Saddle, to Taliora, thence railed to Tangarakau Flat or through to Stratford. But by following a ravine at right angles to the gorge a railway or tram-line can be constructed direct to Tangarakau Flat. The gradient is almost level and the distance just under four miles. The syndicate decided to immediately construct a number of miners’ cottages, etc., and a bridge across the river, and to put in a tunnel for several chains, with lateral drives, to test the extent of the field. The seam exposed is seven feet in thickness, six feet being of coal of the highest quality. The scam has an inclination, easily traceable on either side of the ravine for quite a distance, of about one in eleven, thus ensuring natural drainage and considerably aidig ventilation. The roof Is of a hard marine sandstone formation, affording perfect protection to the miners, and obviating the necessity for the use of timber props. In fact, the conditions for mining are ideal. Besides tlie drives, it was decided to put in bores with a view to proving the extent of the field. From the numerous outcrops it would appear that the measures persist over a very wide area, but to absolutely prove it. boring and driving are necessary.

Geologists have for years maintained that Tangarakau possesses the largest coal field in tho Dominion, but until lately, when the line was put through io Tangarakau Flat, accessibility has been the difficulty. At present any coal won must be transported over the Moki Saddle, unmetalled and difficult, if not dangerous, but the construction of a railway or tram line direct to the Flat will make it possible to economically work the mine and supply not only the Public Works but the whole of the province with a coal which has been adjudged to be equal in calorific power to the Dominion's best coals.